Creating an Accessible Book using the SET-BC Template

Transcription

1 Boardmaker Studio Creating an Accessible Book using the SET-BC Template Introduction The Boardmaker Studio program provides tools and options that allow for the creation of accessible books that have narrated voice or text-to-speech. Scanned book images can be added to the book.. This tutorial assumes that You have experience with computers. You have the Boardmaker Studio program. You know how to open an activity in Boardmaker Studio. You have prepared scanned images (with the text removed) of a picture book that you wish to make accessible and have them available on your computer or flashdrive. Learning Objectives Completion of this tutorial will give you experience with the following: Opening an activity, Saving an activity as a template, Making simple formatting adjustments, Recording your voice using the Boardmaker Studio Built-in Recorder feature, and Adding your voice to page background and page button. Case Study Amanda is a student with autism in grade 1. She recently received Boardmaker Studio as an assistive technology solution from SET-BC. She has used the program for writing and sorting activities. But she is now ready to participate in reading with the class. While she is unable, as yet, to read, she is highly motivated by listening to picture books. Her school team and her parents would like Amanda to become independent with reading so that she can participate autonomously during reading at school. The school team wants to design their own talking books to complement the curriculum that Amanda and her fellow students are following. They are hoping to use the text-to-speech feature of BoardmakerStudio as well as recorded voices so that Amanda will have the option of using this feature to help her understand that words can be represented by text and carry discrete meanings. SET-BC 1 of 12 January 2012

2 Using SET-BC Template From the SET-BC website home page, follow the curriculumset link in the Our Students area. In curriculumset, use the Search field to search for Boardmaker. 1 In the list of activities, click on the SET-BC Accessible Book Template link to go to the download page. Click on the zipped folder to download the file. Downloading the File: 2 A File Download dialog box appears... Click Save. An Internet Explorer Security warning dialog box may appear Click Allow. Select a location to save this zipped folder (a good location is your computer desktop). Click Save. SET-BC 2 of 12 January 2012

3 Saving and Extracting the Zipped File: Locate the zipped folder on your computer desktop (or in the location you chose to save it). Right-click on the zipped folder and select Extract All... to extract the SET-BC Accessible Book template. 3 Choose a location for the extracted file... Browse to select the area: My Documents/BoardmakerStudio/Tem plates. Click Extract. The file will be extracted to this location and will be available for you to use over and over again... Opening the Template Open the Boardmaker Studio program on your computer. From Boardmaker Studio Connect click on New From Template. 1 From the New Project window select From File. Select the SET-BC Accessible Book Template. Click Open. SET-BC 3 of 12 January 2012

4 2 Name the new activity in this example the title of the activity will be A Sick Day for Amos McGee. Click Create. Choosing a Page Format 1 The project panel view opens. Along the left are thumbnails of 3 pages (Disclaimer and Page 1 and Page 1 with Comment) and thumbnails of 2 folders (Page Templates and menus). The Disclaimer page is open in edit mode. The page has some information on it. Read this information. At this point you will want to make choices about what type of page to use and what formatting options to choose. As much as possible, keep the book the same as its original. Examine the story book that you have chosen to make accessible. 2 Look for: Text position on the page (e.g. top, bottom, side). Size of text. Size and position of illustrations. Colour of illustrations. For the sample accessible book, A Sick Day for Amos McGee : Text appears at the top of each page. The primary colours used in the illustrations, and inside cover are yellow and turquoise. SET-BC 4 of 12 January 2012

5 The Page 1 format is the most commonly used story book option, with a large picture area and a text box at the bottom. There are 2 versions of the Page 1 format (and all other formats). 3 One has a regular toolbar; the other has a comment board pop up to enable non-verbal students to talk about the book. If you are using the Page 1 or Page 1 with Comment Pop Up move to step 4 to begin. **If you require a different page layout please move to step 5. 4 Remove unneeded pages: For Page 1 or Page 1 with Comment Pop Up: Right-click on the Page 1 style you do not need and delete it. If necessary, rename your page simply Page 1: o Right-click on Page and select Rename Rename the page as Page 1. Move to Prepare the Page step 1. If you require a different page layout, locate the Page Templates folder. 5 Open the Page Template folder: In the left panel expand the Page Templates folder by clicking on the expand icon. Your page choices are Picture Only, Text on Bottom, Text on Left, Text on Right, Text on Top and Text Only and the identical pages with the comment board pop up. SET-BC 5 of 12 January 2012

6 Choosing a Page style: 6 7 In this sample, the Text on Top option will be used. When you have decided on a page format, Right-click on the page template (ex. Text on Top template) and select Copy. Right-click on the page template again (ex. Text on Top template) and select Paste. A copy named page 14 will be generated below the template. Move the copied page to the book area: Click and drag Page 14 to below the Disclaimer page in the thumbnail view: Right-click on Page 1 and Page 1 with Comment Pop Up and select Delete. Right-click on Page 14 and select Rename Rename the page as Page 1. Prepare the Page It is time to prepare the page: 1 Double-click on your Page 1 to open it. Make style/format/colour changes to your Page 1 if necessary. Read the instructions provided on the page (the red text). (If you like, rightclick on the instruction boxes and delete them so they do not appear on your copied pages.) * Optional Formatting Changes. If you wish to make formatting changes, such as changing or adding colour to page and toolbar, make those changes before you copy and paste the pages for your book. See the section Optional Formatting Changes at the end of this tutorial. SET-BC 6 of 12 January 2012

7 Copy the page: 2 Right-click on your Page 1 thumbnail and select Copy Right-click and select Paste (or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+V) Paste as many pages as you need for your book. Save the project: Go to File Menu / Save All Pages. Adding Pictures Locate and open your folder of scanned images. If you are in list view, you can change your view to medium or large icons by using the 1 Views button in the Windows toolbar (located at the top right). Arrange your folder images and your Boardmaker Studio program so that they are side-by-side. (If you have only the folder of images and the Boardmaker Studio program open, you can right-click on the task bar at the bottom of your window and select Show windows side by side.) In the Project panel, double-click any page to make it available to you in tab format. 2 Double-clicking the thumbnails will open tabs at the bottom of the work area this provides quick access to your pages. SET-BC 7 of 12 January 2012

8 3 Add images: Click on the Disclaimer tab to begin with the Disclaimer page... Click and drag the cover image into the picture box on this page. Go to File/Save Page. Click on the Page 1 tab. Click and drag the title page image into the picture box. Go to File/Save Page. Continue for all pages. 4 Add text: Return to the Page 1 tab. Click in the text box and enter the text for the title page. Go to File/Save Page. Open Page 2 using the tab. Enter the text for this page. Go to File/Save Page. Continue for all pages. 5 Add sound: Set up a microphone or use the builtin microphone of your computer if available. Using the tab, return to Page 1. Double-click on the page background to open the Action Editor for Page 1. Click on (?soundid) to use the builtin recorder feature (or if you have recorded your sounds using an external program such as Audacity, use the Browse feature to browse to your folder of sounds.) Use the record and stop buttons of the internal recorder to record. Make certain the Save for Later Use is checked. Use the play button to listen to your recording. If you are not satisfied repeat the recording process. Click Browse to save the recording SET-BC 8 of 12 January 2012

9 so that you can use it in the Listen button on the same page. Clicking Browse will open My Documents/Boardmaker Studio/Media/Recordings. Use the New Folder feature of Windows to make a folder with your book title in the Recordings folder. Name your sound Page1 (or the name of the page you are currently working on). Save all sounds in this folder. Click Save at the bottom of the Action Editor for Page 1 to exit the action editor. Add sound to the Listen button: Double-click on the Listen button to open the Action Editor. Click on (?soundid) to browse to your previously recorded sound for Page 1. The folder you made in the Recordings will open. Double-click on the Page 1 sound to add it to the Listen button. Click Save at the bottom of the Action Editor for the Listen button to exit the action editor. Go to File/Save Page. Use the page tabs to continue with all pages. Remember to save each page as you add your sounds. Test your book by using the Play button. Make any changes/edits needed. Save all pages. 6 To share the book, find it in My Documents/Boardmaker Studio/Projects. Copy and paste the activity into a flashdrive to transfer it to another computer. Double-click on it to open it in Boardmaker Studio. SET-BC 9 of 12 January 2012

10 Optional Formatting Changes Text: The default font for this template is SassoonCRInfant (which has been chosen because each letter is unique and helps students with reversal issues to distinguish between commonly mistaken letters.) 1 Making Changes: Click on the text box to bring up the formatting window. Highlight the sentence, Text goes here and delete it. Font: Select a font from the drop-down menu. Size: Select a size from the drop-down menu. Justification: Select a justification. If you choose to left-justify, use the right-indent arrow to add space in your text box - see red circle at the right. Colour: Use the colour tool to choose a colour see green circle at the right. Page: You may wish to select a new Theme for your page. The theme applies to colour and style choices. To see the theme choices, click on the page background to open the Page properties window in the left panel. Expand the theme menu by clicking on the expand arrow. 2 Click on a theme choice to select it. Try to match the colours used in your book illustrations to a theme. In the case of A Sick Day for Amos McGee the colours available in the first theme choice match the colours of the illustrations. Click to choose the theme. Background Colour: With the Page properties window open in the left panel, expand the Style Override view see the available choices. Click the Fill tool to bring up the colour window colours that look good SET-BC 10 of 12 January 2012

11 together have been grouped into themes. Choose a colour in this sample yellow is chosen. 3 Toolbar: You may wish to change the style or colour of the toolbar. Right-click on the toolbar to bring up the Button properties window in the left panel: Colour: Expand the Style view. Use the drop down arrow on the style tool and select the style you prefer. 4 Borders: Your student may require more defined borders to distinguish between text boxes and image boxes. It is possible to change the border. Click on the text box to highlight it. In the Properties panel click on the drop down arrow beside the border colour tool. Select Thickness to choose a different thickness. Select Style to choose a different style. Click on the border tool to bring up the selection window. Change Thickness, Style or Colour. 5 Click on Project in the left panel to return to the Project panel. Copy and paste your newly formatted page to create the correct number of pages for your book. Go to File Menu and Save All Pages. You are ready to begin adding pictures and sounds. Move to Adding Pictures. SET-BC 11 of 12 January 2012

12 Tip If the text on your scanned images is large enough, you can create a quick accessible book by using the direct scans, without removing the text from the scanned pages. This speeds up the process of creating books. Also, students can use a camera to take pictures and then easily create books of field trips or procedures in class such as Cooking class or Science labs. SET-BC 12 of 12 January 2012